’Hounds fend off East Valley in keeping grip on league lead

GRANDVIEW – The Grandview boys basketball team last night played a home game against East Valley and defeated the Red Devils, 63-53.

The two teams were supposed to end the 2013-14 campaign on Friday, Feb. 14, but the CWAC changed its schedule to allow play-offs on that date.

Last night’s victory improves the Greyhounds’ record to 13-2 in CWAC action, 15-2 overall. They are ahead of Ephrata by just two games for the top spot in the standings with three more games to be played this season. Two of those games will be at home against Wapato and Prosser this coming Friday and next Tuesday, Feb. 11, respectively. This coming Saturday, Grandview will travel to Toppenish.

Last night’s game was important to the ‘Hounds.

“This was a huge game for us in a lot of ways…East Valley was sitting just two games back in the standings, and we needed this one to create some separation heading into the playoffs,” said Grandview Coach Glenn Braman.

He said East Valley is tall and athletic, which can be challenging when trying to match up players.

The Red Devils jumped out ahead of Grandview with a 19-9 run in the opening quarter.

“We were having a tough time finding our offensive rhythm,” Braman said.

“We were taking some questionable shots and not working to get the best ones we could.”

Once the ‘Hounds were able to find that rhythm, though, they began chipping away at the lead. In the second quarter, Grandview outscored the Red Devils 18-16.

There was a price to pay. During that stanza Greyhound Andy Rodriguez was injured and there was a 20-minute game delay as he was tended to by medical personnel.

Grandview had an 11-point deficit to overcome, re-grouped and cut the deficit to just eight points before the halftime buzzer.

“We knew we still had to dig out of a hole, and in the third quarter we did just that,” said Braman.

The ‘Hounds held East Valley to just five points in the third stanza. The Red Devils had trouble stopping the attack and Grandview tallied 16 points to take a three-point lead.

“It was the best third quarter we played all year, and it started on the defensive end,” Braman said.

The final stanza was also exciting in that the Greyhounds gave up the lead, but quickly battled back. “The offense was really starting to click,” said Braman.

Grandview outscored the Red Devils 20-13 in the fourth quarter.

“I was really proud of how our guys responded, especially working as hard as they did on the defensive end,” Braman said.